This site is E.G.'s archive of paddling exploits dating from April 2006 to the most present of adventures.
The love of kayaking has overcome my desire to make money, go to school,
or do anything but go boating.
This is my life.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Viajecito Al Sur

So first off I would like to say...Thank You all for the love and positivity y'all showed in the comment war about the last post. I'm more than stoked to see all the people fired up to read and check out what I put up. I have been doing this blog for a long time now and sometimes I get lazy. However, if there has ever been a time to step up the amount of effort and media I put up, this is it. Much love to all the people out there that kayak for the love of the game and of course, the love of the river.

Back to the post...About 3 weeks ago Nico Buenaventura, a Santiago boater and long time friend, rallied us out of Pucon and south of go kayaking. Tour de Stout!!!!! So wammy, heading south on Ruta 5...first stop Salto Del Nilahue. Beautiful 60 foot ramping falls. But wait it's not so much just tuck and drop...you got to style this thing and be all intact at the bottom, or else...there is an absolutely hideous undercut that could cause some serious problems for you. With luck we had Nico's beautiful novia there to capture the action, and that she did with some badass photos...Gracias Nacha!

Myself dropping in on the big ramp!!!! Ready to go deep and pop up close to that undercut.

Freddy Gnarquist running the brown...like a demshitz.

After a nice huckfest I took everybody to one of my many secret free camp sites on the road to zion...

Lago Ranco...we stopped for a night at this beach, set up camp, and cooked over the fire and under the stars

The like something strange happen...we went to the Gol Gol, and enjoyed ourselves throughly! That river is truly amazing...6 waterfalls and a bunch of cool rapids.

Then for the main course of the vay cay we went to the Manso Gorge. This river and us demshitz have history together. Two years ago Jared, Ian, and Myself first D'ed the epicly massive Horsecock falls. Last year we went back and ran it almost twice as high as the pervious year. So coming back for a third time is a very interesting feeling. The drop is huge and scary...and after running alerces, getting into a big bee's nest, and scouting in the rain, the crew wasn't feeling the huck. So, we walked! The Manso river is one of the most beautiful wilderness runs down here without question...it reminds me of a mix between the fields of Gondor and how I picture Japan...something like that. Check out some of the shots that Nacha grabbed from the stop there.

One of the many lakes connecting the different parts of the Rio Manso

A big one in the Manso Gorge.

Ian putting his ass in the plastic and going off the shit...

Can some body say mega boof? It's amazing when your plan is to boof the shit out of a 40 footer, but somehow it goes.

So after the full day on the Rio Manso we returned to Bariloche and enjoyed some of the nightlife options available in town...our favorite Irish Pub was spot on and always finding good hospitality with local boater Matias Nunez our stent in Southern Argentina was at an end. Back to Pucon, the Siphon, and home for some of us...